Kumba District Hospital Eye Unit celebrates 10th Anniversary

The eye unit of the Kumba District Hospital created in 2005 which serves the population of Meme Manyu Ndian and Kupe-Muanenguba, celebrated its 10th anniversary on July 23, 2015, by organizing a two days free eye screening at the unit, with the support of its partner Nso Experience, a USA based Nongovernmental Organization, NGO.

According to the Director of the Kumba District Hospital who doubles as the pioneer and lone ophthalmologist of the eye unit, the Kumba District Eye Unit is doing well, adding that, that they consulted over 300 patients for the free eye screening do eye surgeries every week and do all types of eye consultation within the range of their technical equipments.

He mentioned that the eye unit consults over 10 thousand patients annually for clinic-based and over 40 thousand patients annually for clinic-based and outreach patients in rural areas like Mundemba, Tombel, Mbonge, Ekondo Titi just to name but these.

As the lone surgical ophthalmologist, in the South West Region, Dr. Ebongo Zacheus Nanje, said his job is like any other job which encounters challenges including; lack of technical equipment, reasons why most at times what they have to use for patients come for abroad, the patients are poor, they cannot afford the cost of services even though subsidized by their major partners Sight Savers International, also community appropriation for example the well to do people in the community are unwilling to help the needy and so call on individuals of goodwill in the community to copy the example of Nso Experience to assist the poor have a healthy life style, lack of personnel is another challenge since most people run from studying eye related problems and lastly environmental problems and the inability of some people in enclave areas to access the eye unit.

He however hailed government and other donor partners like the NSO EXPERIENCE NGO, for constantly standing by the eye unit to achieve her daunting task.

He however, sees eye disease as a major challenge to the human resource potential of the society, since if you cannot see, you are a vegetable, you cannot do anything except with the introduction of brills, which the blinds now use to study in school, and so being the pioneer of the Kumba District Eye Unit he is fulfilled looking at the amount of patients reached in 10 years.

Dr Ebongo hinted that he has been able to inject happiness in some families. He recalled how sometime last year a family from Marumba in Mbonge Sub Division burst into tears of joy when the operated their 55-year-old father who had been blind for close to45 years.

It should be recalled that the 10th Anniversary celebrations of the Kumba Eye Unit kicked off with a one week free screening that saw a cross section of the population drawn from far and near having a quick check and overview of their sights.